Rubber press pad



R. H. WATERS RUBBER PRESS PAD March 9, 19,43.

Filed Jan. 9, 1941 Parental Mu. 9, 1943 RUBBER PRESS PAD t Rex li. Waters, Akron, Ohio, assigner to Wingioot Corporation, tion of Delaware n, Del., a corpora Application January il, 1941, Serial No. 373,779

V 2 Galina. (Cl. 11S-44) This invention relates to improvements in yieldable and resilient press/pads or platens, con-- structed of rubber or similar material, which are utilized in cutting and forming sheet metal into various shapes and contours by pressure of the y yieldable pads or platens upon the sheet metal which is positioned over suitable dies or forming v bodies. f

In the past yieldable pads or platens of this y 10 the valuable function that it can be readily regeneral type have been constructed of vulcanized' rubber of such large thick pieces that they have been inconvenient to handle and dimcult to cure properly with uniform density, 'I'he cost arman--` ufacture, replacement or repair of there prior -art devices has been high due to the large size of the rubber blocks which have been used. The

mworking surfaces ofpresspadsof'thistypebelcome cut and -mutilated by` coming in contact with sharp edges of various forms and have to Y be repaired or renewed short Period of time.

An object of this invention is toeeliminate the f vforegoing objections by forming the resilient pad orplaten of a plurality of relatively-thin slabs producing spaces between the slabs into which the mateiral being formed would project; thereby tending to form imperfect articles. The protective coverA slab will obviate the above-mentioned hazard.

The second purpose of the protective cover slab A lies in theiact that by taking all the wear a much less expensive grade of material can =be used in the vertical laminated slabs. v

The third purpose of the protective cover slab is placed or repaired at relatively small cost when it becomes worn or mutilated through use withv out disturbing the remainder of the assembly. l5

Another object of this invention'lies inthe fact that by the use of thin laminated vertical slabs in an up-ended position, unlimited thicki ness oi the resilient platen may be obtained, thus vafter a comparatively 27o assembled in either spot-cemented or free contig- 25 nous relation in an up-end'ed vertical sidebya 4 side arrangement and thereafter covering the entire operating surface oi'l these vertically up-f.

ended slabs with a horizontally disposed relatively thin protective s lab'which may be spotoemented to the lower edges of the vertical up- Y ended slabs. The horizontally disposed protective cover slab prevents abrasion or cutting of the vertical slabs and will permit them to last indeii nitely. By taking all the wear, the cover slab- -l only will need to be repaired or replaced periodically, and this can be done without disturbing the entire assembly.

The vertical up-ended slabs are preferably made oi' very resilient yieldable rubber as compared with the cover slab. 'I'he cover slab is composed of rubber which is resilient but less yieldable and is constructed of a very tough abrasive-resisting compound and its resiliency and toughness must be of a degree necessary to form or cut the work and at the same time resist damage from the sharp edges with which it comes in contact.

The purpose of covering the up-ended vertical slabs with the tough cover slab is three-fold. First, in the forming or cutting operation the irregular surfaces of the body being formed presses into the yielding pad and might under certain circumstances tend to separate the verable for small making it 'possible to form much larger bodies than has heretofore been possible, such as automobile fenders, etc. In the past, platens of this nature have been limited in this respect due to` the fact that they have been formed ci' large thick pieces of rubber, the thickness of which is necessarily held to limits that are practical in curing a body density.' This'limited depth of draw, while suite bodies, is too limited -to be of universal value for use of this kind.

- open' position in which a ilexible Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear more fully from the following description which, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, discloses one practical construction and operation of a preferred ernbodiment of the invention. In the drawing,

Figure 1 illustrates the platens oi' a press in pad is associated with the `upper platen; and u Figure 2 illustrates the platens in closed posion. n

The apparatus utilizing this improved resilient platen is in the form of a. power press which may be operated hydraulically or otherwise. The4 lower portion of the press is composed of a table or support lil, the top part of which presents the horizontal surface of a platen li upon which varlousfshapes or forms I2 and Il are positioned to form various objects from blanks of sheet metal i4 and ii by the pressure of the improved resilient platen as will be described later. The' upper portion of the press is composed of a power-operated ram i 6 on the lower end of which is mounted a head Il. The head Il is preferably of rectangular shape and provided with downtical slabs (where no cover slab is used) thereby 55 wardly extending flanges Il around its Outer Deof rubber that will 'have a uniform riphery, said flanges forming under surface of the head in which the platen is housed.

The resilient platen is composed of relatively narrow strips 2i of resilient material, such as rubber or other material having the properties of being flowable but substantially incompressible. These narrow slabs are assembled on edge in a vertical face-to-face relationship, and for convenience in manufacture and handling they are preferably made of a thickness. say from one to four inches depending upon the size and type of press and facilities for manufacturing same, and are assembled in the press `head Il under sufficient compression to enable them to retain their position therein without the aid of cement or vulcanizatlon. A

When these laminated slabs 2l Ahave been assembled in the cavity of the head I'I, a blanket 2 2 of rubber or like material is positioned horizontally in the cavity the lower or exposed edges of the laminated vertical slabs. This blanket or coverlslab 22 may be held in place by spot cementing to the vertical slabs 2I at appropriate spots, as shown at 23. The horizontal cover blanket is composed of very tough rubber or like material and will take all the a cavity I9 in the resilient wear and when it is desired to renew or repair same it can readily be removed without disturbing the remainder of the assembly by nearly dissolving the cement where it is spot cemented to the vertical slabs 2|.

In operation, forms such as designated by the numerals I2 and I3 are positioned upon the lower platen II (see Figure l) and pieces of sheet material I4 and I5 are placed over them. Then power is applied to the ram I6 which causes the head I'I containing the resilient platen 20 to move downward toward the lower platen II and as the resilient platen 20 contacts Vand starts to flow over the sheet metal blanks I4 and I5, the flanges I8 of the head I1 will telescope over the lower platen and thus keep the resilient platen confined in the cavity I9 by preventing lateral now of the resilient material. Due to the fact that the rubber in the resilient platen is ilowable but substantially non-compressible, it will force the metal blanks I4 and i5 about the forms I2 and I3 and cause said blanks to take the shape of the exposed surfaces thereof.

For some installations the wearing sheet or blanket 22 may be omitted, having the lower edges of the slabs 2I exposed to form the working face of the platen. With such an arrangement, any one or more of the slabs 2| may be repaired or replaced when desired.

Thus, it will be apparent that a resilient platen made in accordance with the foregoing description will give excellent results and be economical to manufacture and install. The relatively thin protective cover slab 22 will take all lthe wear and. can be conveniently and economically re- I9 so as to completely cover nected with rigid marginal members of the press,

laminated relationship is that this sheet 22 floats with relative freedom both vertically and horizontally with respect to the pressure transmitting slabs and the contour face of the particular die employed to shape the sheet metal work piece. lThis floating characteristic enables the sheet 22 to envelope and conform itself tothe contour of the said dies under the transmitted compression forces with resulting and harmless creepage with respect to the contour of the forming dies and the sheet material thereon. Obvious this ability to float and creep in accommodation to intense localized forces relieves these areas of the sheet within the zones of distorting stresses of destructive internal and shearing stresses, thus the surface in contact with a sheet to be contoured on the dies is not unduly stretched whereby gaping tears are reduced to the minimum, as contrasted with the inherent surface tension which, in conventional thick forming pad sheets, induces such destructive injuries at the positions of contact with abrupt changes in contour of the dies. The power losses in deformlng the conventional thick slab are substantially eliminated by my improvement.

f Although I have illustrated and described only one form of this invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications canbe made in arrangement and construction which be Within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A press platen of the class described comprising a rigid platen body having a cavity in one of its faces, a multiplicity of relatively thin resilient ilowable slabs assembled in a compact in said cavity so that the laminations will be substantially perpendicular with respect to the bottom of the cavity inthe face of the platen, and a cover slab of more durable resilient material placed over the laminated assembly to protect same from wear and injury and to constitute the working face of the platen.

2. A press platen of the class described comprising a rigid platen body having a cavity in its lower face, a multiplicity of relatively thin slabs of resilient rubber assembled in face-to-face relation in said cavity, the so-related faces of said slabs being substantially perpendicular bottom of said cavity, and a facing sheet of more durable cut-resistant rubber covering the lowermost edges of said multiplicity of slabs t0 protect the same from ywear and injury and to constitute the working face of the platen.

REX H. WATERS.

the use of the relatively' y to the n 

